Chapter48-Money Still Isn't Enough

"Fourteen people, hmm... this number is acceptable."

As the third round of assessments concluded, Owen looked at the fourteen young men and women who had passed, nodding in satisfaction.

With a pass rate like this, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's as difficult as crossing a single-plank bridge with thousands of troops.

But this was exactly the result Owen wanted. In the early days of the 5th School, Owen decided to promote an elite-style education.

Once the school's reputation grows and a stable source of income is established, there would be time to expand admissions.

The fact that seats at the academy were so coveted allowed Owen to sell so many trainee spots. It was a virtuous cycle.

Of course, the main reason was that Owen was just too lazy.

Currently, Owen was the only mentor at the 5th School. With so many students, he simply didn't have the energy to devote to all of them.

"Well then, this concludes the entrance exams. Those who have successfully passed all the assessments are the fourteen of you. As for those who didn't make it, don't be discouraged.

It's not that you aren't excellent; it's just that this new and unusual assessment method was a first-time experience for you, so it's entirely normal to have made some mistakes.

I'll leave the rest to Fiona, our financial officer. If you have any questions, she will be the one to address them.

As for me, I need to get back to my research, so I'll take my leave now."

With that, Owen turned and left nonchalantly, much to the frustration of the gathered parents.

They had traveled all the way to Crossbridge Academy to secure a future for their children, and now this—only one out of every ten could pass the 5th School's strict assessments.

But having come all this way, they were reluctant to take their children back home...

"Why not just join another school within Crossbridge Academy? They're all part of the same academy, and there might be opportunities to transfer to the 5th School later."

"Anyway, Crossbridge Academy, being a well-established institution, is still the best choice. Now that the 5th School has emerged with all these unprecedented research areas, they're bound to become part of the academy eventually.

Let's go! No more hesitation—my daughter was eliminated in the first round anyway. Daughter, Dad will send you to one of the regular schools at Crossbridge Academy!"

Similar discussions became increasingly common, much to Catalina's delight as an onlooker.

To be honest, Catalina was a little disappointed that Owen didn't want to enroll more students.

In her view, most of the candidates were actually quite talented and worth nurturing.

But Owen had absolute control over the 5th School, so she couldn't interfere too much.

Now, however, with these candidates turning to other schools, it ultimately benefited Crossbridge Academy by bringing in more excellent students.

The process was flawed, but the outcome was perfect.

With that thought, Catalina didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately notified the deans of the various schools to gather at the 5th School to recruit those interested in joining.

The deans were all overjoyed and couldn't help but think more highly of Owen.

Of course, Owen was oblivious to all of this.

...

Ten days later, at the estate.

Owen's thoughts stirred, and the Hibernation Pod's lid automatically opened. Struggling to sit up, Owen felt refreshed.

The timed sleep function of the Hibernation Pod was truly fascinating.

No matter how many hours you set for rest, it felt like just a moment.

Whether it was short or long, there was no discomfort whatsoever.

With this device, Owen's insomnia had improved significantly.

"System, calculate the sleep time."

[Calculating, please wait... The current total sleep time in the Hibernation Pod is 19 hours. After applying the triple multiplier, it can be converted to 57 Solar Hours. How would the host like to redeem it?]

"Redeem two days first, which should make it exactly fifteen days, right?"

[Redeeming... Congratulations to the host for acquiring the Master Nutritionist skill!]

[Congratulations to the host for acquiring the Master Gardener skill!]

Upon hearing this, Owen's emotions remained calm.

After receiving so many slack-off rewards, Owen had gradually figured out the pattern for how they were granted.

Generally speaking, only when the total days reached a multiple of ten would there be rewards related to combat power.

Most of the time, the rewards were insignificant, offering minor improvements.

Is being a Master Nutritionist impressive?

Yes, it is. It allows you to maximize the benefits of ingredients through simple combinations.

But the problem is, Owen never cooks.

All three meals at home are prepared by Fiona. Although Owen had offered to cook the meals himself, Fiona declined.

"Well, it's about time to check on those new kids."

Although Owen had hardly shown his face in the ten days since their enrollment, leaving most tasks to the senior students, such as experiments and basic magic training, Virgil could handle these basics just fine.

But that didn't mean Owen could remain absent forever.

After all, those academy trainees came to the 5th School because of him, didn't they?

With that in mind, Owen got up and had just opened the door when he bumped into Fiona, who was walking briskly toward him, carrying a thick stack of documents.

"Master Owen, it's perfect timing that you're awake. These are the financial reports from the past ten days. I've organized them for you to review."

"So soon? Fifi, you don't have to compile them every ten days. That's too tiring."

"It's no trouble, but Master Owen, please take a look."

Fifi rubbed her temples as she handed the documents to Owen. Seeing her expression, Owen found it odd and asked, "What's with that look? Is there something wrong with the financial reports?"

"Every single transaction has been accounted for, and all funds have been appropriately allocated."

"Isn't that great? No one is embezzling funds."

"The only issue is that in the past ten days, we've spent more than 27 million gold coins."

Upon hearing this, Owen froze in place, and the documents in his hand scattered to the floor.

Fiona, having anticipated this, used a gentle breeze to gather the papers back together and sighed, "Master Owen, you didn't mishear. We've spent over 27 million in these ten days."

"But... why?! Did those little brats gamble?"

"Gambling doesn't burn through money like training does, Master Owen. Surely, you must realize how much it costs to train a student from scratch? Just to cultivate a diamond-tier mage, the expenses can exceed a hundred million, even when being as frugal as possible.

Moreover, Ascension and Demotion Magic inherently cost more than basic elemental magic, so this figure is actually normal for the initial phase."

"N-Normal?"

The original work never mentioned such a setup, nor had Owen ever seen John struggle with money.

Whatever he wanted, he just took, like a bandit. If Owen had known that training students was this costly, he would never have taken on this burdensome task!

Watching Fiona Leave, Owen Felt His Heart Bleed.

Twenty-seven million!

More than a fifth!

That's almost as much as Crossbridge Academy's entire annual budget, and it was squandered by just over twenty people in less than ten days!

At this rate, in less than two months, Owen would be back to being a pauper!

However, aside from his anger, this also served as a wake-up call for Owen: the teaching and research at the 5th School were indeed too costly.

He couldn't just keep cutting expenses; he had to find a way to generate more income.

With this in mind, Owen retrieved a white jade-like pill from his spatial ring.

"It seems it's time to start mass-producing this."

Owen had spent a fortune on a slack-off card to obtain a rare thousand-year Pearl Grass.

With his Master Beautician skill, he used this Pearl Grass as the main ingredient to concoct the Facial Alteration Pill.

After testing it, Owen found the pill to be highly effective.

The reason Owen developed this pill was that he hoped to use it as one of the 5th School's income sources.

Unfortunately, Owen hadn't yet solved the technical challenges to achieve mass production.

That single Pearl Grass could only produce thirty-one Facial Alteration Pills, which Owen planned to auction off to establish his reputation first.

After all, Pearl Grass wasn't easy to cultivate. Once Owen could achieve mass production, he could grade the Pearl Grass by age and sell the pills at different price points.

In fact, when Owen initially decided to create the Facial Alteration Pill, he was a bit uncertain.

After all, this was a magical world, where countless spells could change one's appearance.

Making oneself more beautiful was merely a matter of a few incantations.

The Facial Alteration Pill, which took so much effort and money to develop, might not even be popular, especially given its exorbitant price.

Compared to magic, it seemed rather impractical.

For this reason, Owen had specifically consulted many women at the academy, from students to Catalina.

He carefully asked for their opinions.

To Owen's surprise, most people were optimistic about the Facial Alteration Pill.

They generally believed that while magic could make a woman more beautiful, once the magic wore off, her real appearance remained unchanged.

In other words, magic was just self-deception.

If there was a pill that could truly make one more beautiful and preserve youth, they would be more than willing to buy it, as long as they could afford it.

This was the main reason Owen decided to develop the Facial Alteration Pill, and now it could be considered a success.

The pill's effects were simple yet enticing.

Saying it could preserve youth forever would be an exaggeration, but it could easily prevent aging for the next three to five hundred years.

Additionally, there were other beneficial effects, but those didn't need much elaboration. This alone was enough to make people scramble to get their hands on it.

"In any case... I'll sell five pills first. Once the name is out there and demand exceeds supply, I can raise the price. I just wonder how much those rich ladies are willing to spend to keep their youth."

With this thought, Owen smirked.

After discussing the idea with Fiona and Elaine, both agreed that it was feasible. The next step was to decide where to auction the pills.

Crossbridge Academy did have a small trading market, but that level was clearly too low, far from meeting Owen's expectations.

If there was one auction house in the Lost Dimension that was most renowned, had the highest transaction volume, and was the most authoritative, it was the Vanti Auction House!

In the original story, Vanti Auction House was known for auctioning sage-tier items. Not only did several nations back it with promises, but it was also rumored that the master behind Vanti Auction House held a very special status, possibly even being a god-tier figure.

In short, if Owen wanted to auction the Facial Alteration Pill at a good price, Vanti Auction House was undoubtedly the best choice.

After some deliberation, Owen brought sixty million gold coins as seed money.

On one hand, it would serve as security to participate in the auction, and on the other, if Owen found some useful items up for auction, he could also bid on them.

"While I'm away, Virgil, you must keep a close eye on those little brats. Absolutely no more reckless behavior, understand? They haven't even mastered the basics yet and are already thinking of reaching for the stars?

Besides, the 5th School is a place for learning, not a place for conducting experiments!"

In fact, there was a fundamental difference between the two.

The technologies Owen currently possessed were immensely valuable.

Teaching magic freely was one thing, but if the technology fell into the wrong hands and was used for something abominable, both Owen's and the academy's reputations would suffer.

"I understand, mentor. I'll warn them."

"That's more like it. Next time something like this happens, you'll cover the expenses. Got it?"

"Got it... Oh, mentor, these past few days, someone named John has been visiting the 5th School often, trying to get close to me. He seems very eager to join the 5th School. How should I deal with him?"

"John?"

Hearing this name, Owen couldn't help but furrow his brow.

To be honest, if Virgil hadn't brought it up, Owen would have almost forgotten about this Chosen One.

John had been unusually quiet lately, not causing any disturbances.

But that made sense.

After all, Owen had killed Duncan; if John made a move now, wouldn't that be suicidal?

"Don't agree to any of his requests before I return. Just keep him hanging.

This guy... is special. Don't provoke him, don't reject him, just treat him as an ordinary person."

"Understood, mentor."

...

Owen left. He had to find a way to generate more income for the 5th School, or else those little brats would drain his finances dry!

Don't forget, there were still a hundred trainees at the 5th School, and their daily expenses were no small amount. Owen couldn't just sit by and let himself go broke.

As for John, there was no need to pay too much attention to him for now.

According to the original story, Vanti Auction House was located in Vanti Duchy. As one of the few countries without a royal court, it was governed collectively by families.

Due to its unique geographical location, Vanti Duchy was situated right in the center of the Fallen Dimension continent.

Therefore, Vanti Duchy had to remain neutral, spending a large amount of money and mana stones each year to seek protection from several powerful nations, which kept it from being dragged into the various wars between countries.

In fact, Vanti Duchy's approach was quite smart.

Favoring any side would only provoke more dissatisfaction, so Vanti Duchy simply prioritized money above all else. As long as you had money, anything was negotiable. Without money, even if you were from a powerful country like the Sacred Flame Empire, it wouldn't matter in the least.

By adhering to this principle, Vanti Duchy had managed to survive for a thousand years.

Owen's destination was the renowned Vanti Auction House in Vanti Duchy.

In less than a day, Owen arrived at the center of the continent, a sprawling city that exuded opulence at every turn.

Here, there was no discrimination, no preferential treatment.

The only thing that determined your status was not your power or background, but how much money you had.

It didn't matter what race you were; even a shape-shifting spellbeast could receive equal respect in this place.

To Survive, Vanti Duchy Truly Treats Everyone Equally

After all, even the slightest bias could lead to endless bombardment and destruction!

As Owen approached the auction house, he was met with an overwhelming crowd outside.

The limited number of entrances were all packed, with everyone eagerly trying to squeeze their way in.

Among the faces, Owen even spotted some familiar ones—it was the same parents who had recently tried to enroll their children into the 5th School!

Just days ago, they were lamenting their misfortunes, and now they were here at the auction house with the tuition fees they had collected.

It seemed rather inappropriate, no matter how one looked at it. With no other choice, Owen changed his appearance and followed the crowd into the auction house.

Vanti Auction House is divided into six distinct zones, numbered accordingly.

The smaller the number, the lower the prices of the items being auctioned in that zone. Generally speaking, items in Zone One have a maximum price cap of ten million.

If a product's bid exceeds this limit during the auction, it automatically moves to Zone Two.

Zone Two handles items priced between ten to thirty million, Zone Three from thirty to fifty million, and so on.

Upon reaching Zone Six, there is no longer a price cap. However, gaining entry into Zone Six is exceedingly stringent.

The most critical requirement is wealth—you must provide proof of assets to demonstrate that you can afford the items up for auction in Zone Six.

Most of the time, possessing assets exceeding two billion gold coins grants you entry.

The auction house has more rules beyond this.

For instance, every three months, the official auction house hosts a large-scale auction.

Other auctions conducted outside of this schedule are mostly private events commissioned through the auction house.

The original work provides detailed descriptions of the Vanti Auction House, and Owen had done considerable research on it.

Of course, Owen's primary purpose this time was as a seller; any buying would be secondary.

After explaining his intentions to the auction house staff, all sellers are required to submit their items for appraisal.

Professional staff members evaluate the items, and upon completion, they provide a recommended price to serve as the starting bid.